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OCT 15 1918 




INTRODVCTION 



G^A^6etts 




During the most active part of a stu- 
dent's life, in the time when the most is 
required of him, comes the school annual 
with all of its attendant pleasures and 
difficulties. A meeting of the class is 
called and in a very brief space of time 
one student finds himself business man- 
ager of a company — the class — that has 
decided to edit and publish the largest 
and best annual that this particular school 
has ever issued. 

This manager, and likewise the editor- 
in-chief, on whom the larger part of the 
work will fall, frequently are chosen on 
account of their work in other activities 
in the school, and not because of special 
knowledge concerning the publishing busi- 
ness. They usually are the busiest mem- 
bers of the class, yet they must take up 
this new role — -work in which they have 
had no previous experience — and it is 
absolutely necessary that they make it a 
success. 

I have met these young people year 
after year and helped them plan and build 
the book that had first seemed so easy and 
afterward so difficult or impossible. 

It is a big task to produce a book that 
will meet the ueeds of the school and at 
the same time be within the means of the 
annual organization. Consequently it has 
become obvious that a complete set of 
tried and well defined plans is necessary 
if workers are to make a decided success 
of their venture. I have noticed that fre- 
quently the time lost or wasted in the be- 
ginning, thru a lack of knowledge of just 
where to start, if used properly would 
have made the book an unqualified success. 

To be the most valuable to the staff 



such a guide should be written by one 
who has found himself in just the position 
described, for he must have had, and over- 
come, every difficulty that will be encoun- 
tered. He must be a man who is capable 
of writing these things so they will be 
understood. F. B. Nichols, associate edi- 
tor of the Farmers Mail and Breeze, who 
wrote this guide to success in annual man- 
agement, was formerly business manager 
of The Royal Purple, the annual issued by 
the Kansas State Agricultural college, and 
he made it a big financial success, having 
a considerable surplus of money which 
was returned to the class members. He 
also was the editor-in-chief of this annual. 

Charles Dillon, managing editor of the 
Capper Farm Papers, who has written an 
article for this book ou "Editing the Col- 
lege Annual," has spent the greater part 
of his life in editorial work. His book, 
Journalism for High Schools, has been 
adopted generally in many states, includ- 
ing Kansas, as a text on this subject. He 
was formerly professor of industrial jour- 
nalism in the Kansas State Agricultural 
college, where he had considerable experi- 
ence in helping to edit and plan The Royal 
Purple. 

Mr. B. P. Bartlett, a successful adver- 
tising expert, associated with Capper Pub- 
lications, is just the type of man that 
could put the advertising section of a 
school or college annual "on the map." 
He has given the advertising manager 
what he considers to be the very keynote 
of success, as well as some very clever 
suggestions as to methods of increasing 
the usual list of firms and each firm's 
space. 




EFFICIENCY IN 
MANAGEMENT 




P. PI NLcHois 



A high standard of efficiency is re- 
quired in the business world today. In 
no line of work is this more important 
than in managing a school or college an- 
nual. The ideal should be to reduce the 
expenses to the lowest point possible in 
producing a good book — just where this 
point is requires a high degree of business 
judgment from the manager. This most 
certainly does not mean that the work- 
manship on the book should be inferior 
because of the demand for a low price. 
It is far better to get out a small book 
with real engravings and printed properly 
on good paper than to issue a much larger 
book with poor engravings, produced by 
careless printers on inferior stock. • , 

Consider the reputations of the firms 
with which you deal most carefully. You 
have, of course, already closed your con- 
tract with the Capper Engraving Com- 
pany, a firm experienced in producing 
superior college engravings, so there need 
be no fear in regard to the quality of the 
engravings. ! If you will now select a good 
printer and allow him to use a quality 
stock you will have made an excellent 
start on your work. 

An exact record should.be kept of every 
cent received and every cent spent. Most 
schools and colleges now require the books 
of the annual committee to be audited by 
some member of the faculty, and if this 
is not the case your committee should 
suggest it to the faculty and get a mem- 
ber appointed for this purpose. This will 
give a feeling of security and a protection 
to your committee that will be most help- 
ful. There will then be no question from 



anyone in regard to the way that the 
money is being spent, and that will aid in 
getting all of the organizations of the 
school behind the book, and it will help 
greatly in its sale. 

Cut off the unnecessary expenses with 
which so many books are burdened. This 
can be done if all of the members will 
work together in the right way. This 
includes the elimination of an excessive 
amount of traveling, which many college 
committees, especially, have had. Every 
time that money is spent in an unneces- 
sary way it discredits the book and the 
Avhole college annual business. Tou, as 
manager, realize this. You realize, fur- 
ther, that you have an opportunity to get 
a business training that will be decidedly 
helpful, and that will without doubt re- 
flect to a considerable extent the success 
which you will be in after life. Put the 
same high intelligence into the committee 
work which you will use later in your own 
business and you will not go far wrong. 

Your work will require the use of a vast 
amount of patience ; more, probably, than 
you realize now. In dealing with the 
human factor in this world, especially 
when taking money away from persons in 
return for a service such as is given by a 
college annual, you are constantly en- 
countering new factors. Patience, intelli- 
gence and tact are required to the highest 
degree. You, of course, have these char- 
acteristics or you would not have been 
selected by the class I to manage the book, 
but still you will have need to remember 
their importance every day. 

Especially is it necessary to keep all of 



THE ART OF ISSUING A COLLEGE ANNUAL 



the college organizations behind the book. 
Never neglect the opportunity to impress 
on the students to the maximum degree 
the importance of the book, and the fact 
that it is a real school or college annual, 
and not merely a class book. The day of 
the class book has passed ; the ideal should 
be to produce a book that will represent 
the whole school. Tour class merely has 
this duty in charge for this year. If you 
talk this school annual ideal constantly 
and get the rest of the folks in the school 
to understand it thoroly, you will find 
that the other classes and the faculty will 
be for you to the limit, and the work of 
financing it will be a great deal easier 
than it otherwise would be. 

By this method you will be able to un- 
cover sources of income which were not 
possible before. Naturally the method of 
financing the book will depend on local 
conditions — it is different in every school 
and college — but there are a few funda- 
mentals which are fairly obvious every- 
where. One of the main ones is the assess- 
ment on the class which is getting out the 
book, which is either the senior or junior 
class. The usual rule is to assess the class 
as heavily as the members think fair, and 
then give every member a book without 
further charge. The other classes should 
be just as well represented as possible. 
Urge upon them the importance of taking 
as much space as possible. 

Many annuals make a charge to the 
classes and organizations which just about 
covers the cost of the space and then the 
manager allows them to take all of the 
space they will buy, with some limit of 
course which would prevent some of the 
especially rich organizations, which might 
buy up a large section, from getting an 
undue amount of publicity. This system 
allows a great expansion in the size and 
interest which the book will have, and it 
also will help greatly in the sale of the 



book. When a student appears in it in a 
half dozen or more places he is much more 
likely to buy a copy than when he is not 
mentioned. 

This system of asking the different as- 
sociations which are financially able to do 
so to pay for their space is absolutely fair, 
as well as being a good business plan. It 
allows the business manager to make a 
great development in the percentage in- 
crease in total receipts, and opens up a 
source of revenue which is either ne- 
glected entirely or is given only inci- 
dental attention. 

Two other very important sources of 
income are the money obtained from the 
sale of the books and from the advertis- 
ing. Both are discussed under special 
chapters. Prompt collections are essential 
from every source except advertising; 
with advertising the rule is to collect after 
publication. If the book is printed in the 
spring, say in May or June, try to get all 
of the collections in, except the advertis- 
ing, by April '1. The books should be sold 
by ticket, and the sale should end as a 
rule by March 1, or before it is necessary 
to give the final order on the size of the 
edition to the printer. 

Finally, in all of your work, don't for- 
get the essential factor in the success of 
every business man, which is tact. You 
will have many trials — or if you don't 
you will be the first manager on record 
who didn't have. Members of other 
classes, your own classmates and even 
members of your own annual committee, 
will be constantly suggesting freak ideas 
that are absolutely impossible from a 
financial standpoint — and perhaps from 
others — and you will have to prove this 
clearly and carefully if you expect to con- 
tinue to receive their-' support. 

For whatever else the annual committee 
may do it must have the loyal support of 
the entire student body — that is the most 



THE ART OF ISSUING A COLLEGE ANNUAL 



important axiom you will have to remem- 
ber. On your shoulders, as the executive 
head of this committee, most of the re- 
sponsibility of getting this support rests. 
It is a responsibility that is a care and a 
privilege. You will get a training that 



will aid more than you believe now in 
after years, when you are against the 
difficult problems of life in the outside 
world. So we congratulate you, Mr. Man- 
ager. Keep your pep ! Go in and win ! 



SELLING THE BOOKS 



The campaign for the sale of the book 
should be based on the idea that it is a 
school annual, and not merely a class 
book. If this is understood generally, and 
it is realized that all organizations and 
efforts of the school will be given a fair 
amount of space, a big start will have been 
made in the selling campaign. Never neg- 
lect the opportunity to impress this idea 
wherever you can. 

Get all of the publicity in every way 
possible long before the selling campaign 
is started. This is the most valuable part 
of the sales work. You can see this gen- 
erally in the sale of many of the goods 
which are advertised commonly; the sales 
manager does not wait until the goods are 
ready before starting his advertising cam- 
paign. He probably has been at work for 
months, by the use of ordinary paid ad- 
vertising and otherwise, to get the widest 
possible publicity for the goods. His ex- 
ample is something which should be con- 
sidered very carefully by the business 
manager in deciding on the plans for the 
sale of the books. 

Usually the committee in charge of the 
annual is represented on the staff of the 
school paper, or at least the two staffs 
work together closely. Make the most of 
this publicity. Conduct a campaign from 
the time school opens in the fall, and the 
first issue of the paper is prepared, telling 
of the fine new features which the annual 
will have. Impress on everyone the com- 



pleteness with which all school affairs will 
be covered. You can take it as an axiom 
that the more frequently the average per- 
son expects to get his picture in the an- 
nual the more likely he is to buy a copy. 
This is perfectly natural ; if he is well rep- 
resented it makes the book more interest- 
ing to him in after years. 

Much good can be done by talking 
about the merits of the annual before the 
different associations. Get a member of 
the committee who can talk clearly and 
forcefully on the programs of all of the 
school organizations, and especially be- 
fore the general assembly. 

And now we come to the selling method. 
There are different plans, of course, but 
the one which has given the greatest satis- 
faction — the one which is fundamentally 
sound from a business standpoint — is to 
sell tickets for the book, and to do this in 
the winter, not later as a rule than March 
1, before the book is printed. In this way 
there is no chance for loss. Every book 
is purchased and paid for before the edi- 
tion goes to press, and there is no chance 
of the committee having a lot of books 
left on hand which could not be sold. 
That, by the way, has been the unhappy 
experience of a great many business man- 
agers who elected to risk waiting until the 
book appears before selling it. 

As a rule the students have more money 
in the winter than they will have at the 
close of the school year, and they enthuse 



THE ART OF ISSUING A COLLEGE ANNUAL 



more over buying a copy of the book. 
The efforts which are being made to col- 
lect material for the book are more likely 
to be in a student's mind at that time, and 
he is more likely to be impressed with the 
importance of the book than he can be 
later. The most important thing, how- 
ever, is the idea that if you get the book 
sold and the money in hand at that time 
there will be no loss from unsold copies — 
for as you have discovered before a good 
high charge is made for white paper and 
labor costs in book production. And as a 
final argument for the advance sale of the 
book, the fact that most of the schools 
over the country use this method is a 
sufficient indication of its value. Have 
tickets printed which call for a copy of 
the book when it is printed, require cash 
in advance for these in every case, and 
then don't print one extra copy. If you 
eliminate this extra copy feature it will 
make it easier for the committee the next 
year to get the money in advance. 

Don't be afraid to charge a fair price 
for the annual. Most annuals are sold at 
too low a price — a price much less than 
the production cost, and this is not fair 
nor sensible. The important thing is to 
produce a book which has real quality — 
that is of much more importance especially 



in after years than the extra cost required 
to get maximum results. Charge an honest 
price for your effort and then work to 
produce a book that will represent the 
school properly, and there will be no ob- 
jections to the increased cost. 

In the sale of the book, after deciding 
on the ticket system and after obtaining 
the widest possible publicity, especially 
thru the school paper and thru personal 
appeals to all of the school organizations, 
comes the use of special schemes. Fre- 
quently some special stunt, such as beauty 
contest — giving a certain number of votes 
for every book sold, which are cast in 
favor of the more popular girls — is effect- 
ive. The use of form letters, addressed 
to every member of the school, sometimes 
pays well. A big feature is to obtain the 
personal, loyal support of some of the 
leaders in every class, and to get them 
solidly behind the sale of the book. If 
you will do this you will have made a big 
start in "getting across" with the book. 

There is no reason for having the sale 
of the tickets extend over a considerable 
time. Three weeks usually is plenty long 
enough. Start it with a whoop, keep up 
the enthusiasm right thru the selling 
period and then stop it. That is the way 
to get the maximum results. 



EDITORIAL EFFICIENCY 

For the Managing Editor and His Assistants 



A big responsibility rests on the man- 
aging editor and his assistants. No mat- 
ter how hard the business manager may 
labor, no matter how many books are sold 
or how much advertising may be obtained, 
the annual will be a flat failure unless the 
editorial department puts forth its maxi- 
mum efforts. It is indeed a responsibility 



and a privilege to be connected with the 
editorial department of one's school an- 
nual. When one puts forth his best ef- 
forts, when he helps to produce a book 
that is worth while, he will have done 
something that will be a source of satis- 
faction to him all thru his life. Not only 
that, but he will have demonstrated early 



THE ART OF ISSUING A COLLEGE ANNUAL 



in life that he is a leader, that he can do 
things worth while. 

The first thing for the managing editor 
and his assistants to do is to view the 
book in terms of school or college service 
— to have the idea of making it of the most 
value to the school at large. It should not 
be a class book in any sense of the term 
but should represent fairly and completely 
all of the organizations and efforts of the 
school. We need not dwell on the tre- 
mendous value of this in helping to 
finance the book. The important thing is 
that this will be of the greatest help to 
the school, and will show that you are in 
the big league class; it will indicate that 
you have the real ideal of service so es- 
sential in producing an annual that will 
be a credit to yourselves. 

The first thing is to get the work di- 
vided among the committee so that every 
person will have a definite task and be 
responsible for this. This division will at 
least include an associate editor, an ' art 
editor, and athletic editor, and such fur- 
ther divisions as seem best. Every editor 
should be able to write clearly and force- 
fully on his subject, and should have an 
enthusiasm and love for his particular 
line. The athletic editor, for example, 
should be a man who has been successful 
in athletic work, and who has a funda- 
mental knowledge of sports in general. 
The art editor should be a student who 
has ability in this work, and who has 
made a careful study of the results ob- 
tained in books. These general funda- 
mentals apply to the editors for all the 
departments. 

It is well to make this division just as 
soon as possible after the committee is 
selected ; in fact it should be formed with 
the qualifications of the various members 
in mind. It should be selected two years 
in advance; if the seniors issue the book, 
for example, the committee should be se- 



lected in the fall of the junior year. This 
plan is used at most of the larger institu- 
tions, and experience has demonstrated 
that it is fundamentally sound. 

A decision in regard to the number of 
pages should be made as soon as possible. 
Naturally the manager will have to be 
much concerned with this, as the commit- 
tee should use great care in planning a 
book so it can be paid for. After the 
number of pages has been determined the 
general layout can be made, with a care- 
ful division of the space among the dif- 
ferent departments. Eight here usually 
is where there is much debate, and much 
difference of opinion. The athletic editor, 
for example, as a rule wishes to "make 
away" with an abnormal amount of space 
for his department. That art editor de- 
sires to use much white paper for his sec- 
tion. Others insist that there should be a 
huge amount of space given to pages of 
snapshots, which as a rule are very pop- 
ular. And so it goes. 

The axiom to go by in deciding on the 
space is to see that all departments are 
represented fairly; to avoid making any 
one department top-heavy. Of course this 
is a problem and requires some very fine 
judgment, but then if you go into news- 
paper work and should become a man- 
aging editor this is the sort of thing you 
would have to be deciding constantly. 
You can perhaps get some help along this 
line by considering what former classes 
have done back for perhaps four or five 
years. Naturally you will get out a book 
that is "different," but the experiences 
which they have had should be of interest. 

This also is true with the books from 
other schools ; examine all of the efforts 
of the other committees which you can 
find. You will not, of course, wish to use 
any of the ideas which you find there in 
the form in which you find them, but fre- 
quently a book will suggest a new feature 



THE ART OF ISSUING A COLLEGE ANNUAL 



that can be worked into the book you will 
produce which will apply to local condi- 
tions. Naturally you will wish to get as 
many new, original, distinct and forceful 
features as possible. Avoid the freakish, 
however ; always use good taste. 

And right here the matter of judgment 
enters. Bear in mind all the time that the 
more judgment you can get to bear on the 
features of the book the better it probably 
will be. The help you can get from some 
member of the faculty or some loyal mem- 
ber of the alumni frequently will be very 
valuable. This especially is true in the 
use of snapshots and some of the alleged 
jokes which will be submitted. Try to 
consider these in the light of what your 
more mature judgment will be in after 
years, and also get outside help on these 
problems. Have the ideal of leaving every 
offensive thing out of the book, and in 
case of doubt take the safe course and 
eliminate it anyway. 

Early planning will allow the produc- 
ing of copy long before the closing date, 
so the engraver and the printer will have 
a chance to do the best possible work. 
In fact, the closing date should not be re- 
garded in any way except as the date for 
the sending in of the last bits of copy 
which remain. A high proportion of it 
should be in weeks before. If the work 
is managed in this way it will be distrib- 
uted properly for the annual committee 
and you will avoid some of the astonish- 
ing things which develop when it is put 
off until the last minute. For example, 
one of the larger annuals in Kansas a year 
or two ago was printed in the East, and 
at the "last minute" the committee had 
to make many of the page corrections by 
telegraph. As a result there were many 
errors in this book and of course the stu- 
dents were not satisfied, and naturally 
the committee got the blame. How much 
better it would have been if the copy had 



been sent in early and the book issued in 
a normal way ! 

Plan the book so you will use all of the 
white space. There is much careless 
make-up work done on many annuals, 
with the result that valuable white space 
is not used. Why not use this space to 
carry actual, definite records about the 
work of the college year? In fact this is 
true all thru the book. Make it an ac- 
curate record of all of the school life, and 
eliminate what in newspaper offices is 
forcefully called "bunc," or sometimes in 
college circles "inflated atmosphere." 

Dwell on the historical, the informa- 
tion which will be of interest in after 
years. Make the definite records of all 
contests with other schools, both athletic 
and otherwise, especially complete. Tell 
of the school events thru the year. Have 
stories about the traditions of the school, 
and of the places visited on "hikes." It 
is better in the senior section to merely 
give a record of the associations to which 
a person belongs — making it purely histor- 
ical — than to attempt any "write-ups," as 
these are certain to be unsatisfactory in 
some cases, while a clear, definite record 
of what one has done and the associations 
to which he has belonged is dignified and 
sensible, and appears much better in after 
years than some of the things which we so 
frequently see printed. 

Don't allow any editor to "hog" more 
than his share of space, which someone 
almost always makes an effort to do. 
Give all general phases of school life a 
chance. A high school annual issued a 
year or two ago devoted thirteen pages to 
telling about a punk football team which 
had lost all but one game — with a team 
from a school so small that the players 
literally had to be drafted — and but one- 
fourth page to a debating team which had 
defeated every team with which it had 
come into competition. Such a system was 



THE ART OF ISSUING A COLLEGE ANNUAL 



unfair, senseless, illogical and otherwise 
unnecessary. Give all activities of the 
school life a fair amount of space. 

The art editor has an especially big op- 
portunity and responsibility. His most 
important thing is to work in the closest 
harmony with the firm which is doing the 
engraving work. Big engraving firms, 
such as the Capper Engraving company, 
have artists who have had experience 
on hundreds of annuals, and naturally 
they have gained knowledge with the 
years in handling this work. This fact is 
realized especially well today in the larger 
universities, and the excellent books pro- 
duced by some of the larger schools are 
made possible only by the co-operation 
which exists between the art editor and 
the engraving firm. 

If the book is to be a success it must 
carry the spirit of being a complete whole ; 
otherwise it will appear more like a scrap 
book. To get this substantial air it will 
be necessary to have a certain design' or 
plan carried out all thru it. That is why 
it is best as a rule to have most of the 
page headings and the art work on the 
snapshot pages done by the engraving 
firm. This will not be especially expen- 
sive; the artists work rapidly, and a few 



hours of extra time put in on the book 
will do wonders in making it a finished 
whole. 

The importance of getting good copy 
cannot be over emphasized. It is true that 
with the great improvement of machinery 
and processes used in producing engrav- 
ings in recent years it has been possible 
to get better results than one would ex- 
pect from inferior copy, but it also is true 
that it will pay mighty well to supply the 
very best copy possible. This is especially 
true with the snap-shots. Most of the 
larger schools now collect the films and 
plates of these pictures and take them to 
the best photographer in town — if he can 
be induced to do the work in considera- 
tion of a fair price and other more desir- 
able annual work — and get him to care- 
fully print the best copy possible, con- 
sidering every plate or film as a problem 
in itself, which indeed it frequently is. If 
you Avill use such a plan, you will find 
that your snap-shot pages will have a de- 
cided improvement over those in former 
annuals, which will be a mighty pleasing 
thing. That will be especially true if you 
will have the artists of the engraving firm 
arrange the pictures for you. 



OBTAINING ADDITIONAL HELP 



Get all of the outside help that is avail- 
able for the annual work. You will real- 
ize the importance of this when you con- 
sider that as a general rule the larger the 
annual the greater is the attention which 
is given to help of this kind. Epecially is 
it mighty important that you work in the 
closest possible harmony with the engrav- 
ers and printers. These men have as a 
rule been handling work of this kind for 
many years, and as a result of this they 



have accumulated a rich fund of experi- 
ence in regard to the things which should 
be done to get the best results. It will pay 
mighty well to make the greatest possible 
use of this. 

If you select high class firms to do this 
work you can depend on it that they are 
just as much interested in the success of 
your annual as you are. Their reputations 
depend on the quality of the work they 
turn out, and this of course is their most 



THE ART OF ISSUING A COLLEGE ANNUAL 



important asset. Take with the Capper 
Engraving company for example ; its prin- 
cipal asset is not the very expensive equip- 
ment which it has for producing quality 
engravings, costly as this has been, but it 
is the reputation which it has all over the 
Middle West of delivering engravings 
which give satisfaction. It has made this 
reputation by the use of the very best 
equipment, skillful workmen and the best 
possible co-operation with the people for 
whom it does work. 

Ask your engravers and printers when 
you need help on special problems. You 
will find that they have at hand a rich 
fund of information which will save you 
money, improve the appearance of your 
book and reduce the number of irritating 
mistakes to the minimum. Make the great- 
est use of this outside help. 

Then consider the help you can get 
from the alumni. This, as a rule, will be 
considerable, and decidedly valuable. You 
can find members of the alumni around 
every school, usually from the more re- 
cent classes, who still have the student's 
viewpoint, and at the same time it is tem- 
pered with a more mature judgment that 
will be very valuable in keeping things 
out of your book which should not be 
there. Why not get one or two of these 
loyal friends of the school to help you in 
an unofficial way ? This is done commonly 
in the larger schools and universities, and 
in many cases is responsible for the at- 
tractive results produced. They certainly 
will help in avoiding errors which they 
have perhaps had experience with before. 

And there is another thing about this 
help : It will be very valuable in increas- 



ing the sale of the book among the alumni, 
which is desirable from a financial point 
of view, and at the same time it aids in 
producing that fine spirit of loyalty so 
essential in every worth while school, no 
matter whether it is a high school, college 
or university. Give the alumni space in 
the book for a good long story, with pic- 
tures, concerning their activities. And 
make the most of the help you can get 
from its members. 

Faculty help can be made very valu- 
able. In selecting the faculty members of 
your committee, which as a rule should 
serve only in an unofficial capacity, it is 
of course necessary to use judgment. 
Select some member or members who are 
popular with the student body. They will 
help in avoiding errors into which you 
might fall. These include errors in the 
use of English and especially in judgment 
concerning the jokes and other material 
which should be used. Let several mem- 
bers of the committee, a member or two 
of the faculty and a member or two of 
the alumni see every bit of material which 
goes into the book. If you will do this 
you should be able to eliminate everything 
that is objectionable. 

In other words, the point about all of 
this outside help is this : There is avail- 
able, from outside sources, a huge amount 
of technical information in regard to the 
publishing of an annual which you can 
obtain free. It has been obtained from 
years of experience. Make use of this 
help — assemble the information and aid 
which you can get in the best possible 
way. It will mean a better book. 




EDITING THE 
(DILEGEANNVAL 

Charles 7 Dillon 




A student's annual, in high school or 
college, should be so written that it will 
be a source of pride, a souvenir of youth- 
ful days not containing a word or picture 
likely to cause regret in after years when 
life may have taken on a somewhat graver 
aspect. This does not mean that all humor 
should be excluded from its pages. Quite 
the opposite, indeed. But it should be 
humor, which is kindly, which in its read- 
ing creates laughter, while wit, in which 
so many thoughtless persons like to in- 
dulge, cuts and wounds, and leaves a scar. 
The chief trouble is found in the fact that 
many persons are unable to distinguish 
between "Pep," that very necessary qual- 
ity in school life which adds interest to 
institutional activities, and the objection- 
able, and very frequently offensive ex- 
plosion of animal spirits which finds ex- 
pression in complete forgetfulness of 
others' rights and feelings. To take ad- 
vantage of anyone, student or teacher, 
anonymously, is unforgivable, and injures 
the annual and the committee in charge 
of its writing. 

The committee should bear in mind, in 
editing the school publication, that it rep- 
resents the institution in that particular 
period with which the students were con- 
nected. It is not, or should not be the 
annual clearing-house for ill-temper or 
revenge. It should be as carefully writ- 



ten, in English as clean and grammatical, 
as the most dignified text-book. And this 
purpose can be achieved without making 
it gloomy or dull. The pieces so fre- 
quently seen in which the writers attempt 
an imitation of Josh Billings or Mrs. 
Malaprop in spelling, are in bad taste, 
and nearly always are the products of stu- 
dents who seek in this way to disguise the 
fact that they are themselves unable to 
spell properly. Shown to friends or fam- 
ily, twenty years later, such exhibits ~9 
woud prove embarrassing. 

A school or college annual should be 
perfect as to its artistic features. Only 
the best drawings should be accepted for 
publication; and in enforcing this rule 
the committee will be setting a standard 
which all ambitious students will seek to 
attain. Nothing ever was gained by print- 
ing mediocre work. To do so cheapens 
the entire volume. Moreover, it seems a 
waste of money and material to use any 
except the very best contributions. The 
college annual, in brief, should be a fine 
record of days that pass only too quickly, 
days that will be looked back to in after 
years with pleasure, if the work be well 
done by the editors, or with regret if it 
be handled in a slovenly way. Surely the 
history of an enterprise taking four years 
to complete is worthy the best setting. 
Nothing else should be permitted. 




ADVERTISING 

Selling Ve/aes <~^o- 




BLP.J&rtlett 



Advertising in College Annuals has been 
considered more or less a contribution to 
the student body or to the school itself, 
a good-will holder, as it were. By some 
outspoken merchants and manufacturers 
it has been unkindly called "graft" and 
"hold-up" — a necessary evil — an annual 
donation — one of the "conditions" to be 
tolerated and expected in a college town. 
For this condition, the management of the 
book, the method of solicitation or the 
solicitors themselves have been largely to 
blame. "It is Ourtown College Annual, 
and you should patronize it," has been the 
threadbare approach of the solicitor. Ad- 
vertising today is an investment as im- 
portant as clerk hire and the solicitor who 
"brings home the bacon" now sells values. 
Advertsing in the C. A. is not a benevo- 
lence, seeking the funds of gullible mer- 
chants to defray the expense of preparing 
and issuing a beautiful specimen of print- 
ing art, full of pictures, wit and poems, 
and with a little information regarding 
the institution. Of course, in return for 
the money he pays, the merchant has the 
opportunity of seeing his name and ad- 
dress among the other advertisements, 
but he is not often enough sold on the real 
value the book will actually deliver to 
him in honest-to-goodness business — and 
profits. 

The C. A. has its place upon the "legit- 
imate stage" of advertising; it has an 
established value as a sales force, effect- 
ive and resultful to a greater or lesser 
degree, depending upon the usual ele- 
ments of circulation, distribution, quan- 
tity and quality, as well as vitality of 



content, holding interest and compelling 
attention. 

Advertising in the C. A. has an extended 
period of value. It does not meet the fate 
of the fiction magazine which is devoured 
and then destroyed. The C. A. is read 
and re-read, then kept as a reference book. 
It has value thruout the year. It is shown 
to friends. Its actual readers during the 
year are in larger multiples than the read- 
ers of ordinary advertising mediums. 

Such advertising is a known-value 
means by which the retailer may educate 
the consuming student body to confidence 
in the character of his store and the qual- 
ity of the goods he sells. The news value 
of each advertisement must be basically 
informative. The solicitor should study 
the trade conditions of each prospect and 
be prepared to suggest, to lay out, to il- 
lustrate and write the text of the copy 
when the prospect is not prepared or is 
disinclined to prepare his own. 

To put the 'advertiser on the dotted line 
for the largest contract his business will 
warrant, he must be shown the direct ap- 
plication of his business to local student 
trade, the alumni and the purchasing 
power of the homes represented by the 
student body. 

Before the solicitor can expect the 
largest success in selling advertising, he 
must first sell himself on the true value 
of the advertising service the book will 
actually render, measuring the result by 
actual dollars and cents. He must feel no 
apology necessary in presenting these 
values in solicitation. He must know 
every angle of his proposition and antici- 



THE ART OF ISSUING A COLLEGE ANNUAL 



pate the usual objections and arguments. 

Among the ordinary excuses is the 
threadbare "appropriation exhausted." 
This will be met successfully if the solici- 
tor is sold on his own proposition. No 
commercial enterprise is unwilling to ac- 
cept and care for — even to seek and to 
pay for increased business. 

"I use the local newspaper, that's all I 
can afford," another says. Give him the 
facts and figures of the actual purchasing 
power of the clientele of the C. A. Show 
him the calibre of the student body and 
the alumni. Point out the sales possibili- 
ties with the student body thru the posi- 
tive value of this advertising service. 

Avoid the selling of mere space. Offer 
a sales service to the merchant and manu- 
facturer just as a man seeking an opening 
as salesman in a retail store. This job- 
seeker sells himself to the merchant on his 
abilty to sell goods and earn the salary 
to be paid, and he knows what he is worth. 
Just so must the solicitor sell the adver- 
tising service of the C. A., knowing its 
worth, its sales ability and its outstanding 
value. But, I repeat, this cannot be done 
unless the solicitor has sold himself on the 
positive value of the advertising pages of 
the annual with specific adaptation to 
each and every line of business repre- 
sented. 

Prospects should be listed and carefully 
followed until closed. They fall naturally 
into two classes — advertisers and non-ad- 
vertisers. There are certain stores in 
every college town which traditionally 
have the bulk of student trade. For years 
they have catered to and drawn their 
profits from the student body. These may 
be counted on as sure space buyers. But 
don't be satisfied with a half page this 
time because a half page was used last 
year. Show the proprietor how he can 
increase business by doubling his adver- 
tising. Right here suggest helpful, strong, 



selling copy for the larger space. Submit 
"different," ingenius, original sales copy 
and the result will frequently be larger 
space. 

The non-advertiser in this particular 
sort of a publication is harder to sell. He, 
too, must be shown the purchasing power 
of the student body, the alumni and the 
homes of the students. He must be shown 
reader-interest as well as the number of 
subscribers and the sales opportunity the 
C. A. offers his particular business by the 
direct application of selling copy in the 
ad itself. 

The positioning of advertisements is 
important. Is it tradition that usually 
compels the segregation of all advertis- 
ing in the front and back of the book? If 
so, tradition is depriving advertisers of 
value for which they are willing to pay a 
fair price. But the old timers say "it 
destroys the appearance of the book." 
Sometimes it does, particularly so if you 
leave the topography and dress of the ads 
entirely to the advertiser. A careful use 
of art and taste to display forceful copy 
will make an advertising page compel the 
attention, hold the interest, and be as ar- 
tistic in appearance as the text pages if 
care is given to carefully planned and 
executed layouts of pages. This treatment 
positively enhances the sales value of the 
advertising, making more business pos- 
sible and enlarging the field of influence. 
Such pages of advertising can face text 
pages without detriment to the general 
appearance and character of the book. 
Tradition is the only sacrifice, and after 
all it is value you want to give to the 
man whose money you take for merchan- 
dising purposes. Give him a "look in" 
for his investment. Try running adver- 
tising on the left hand pages and facing 
right hand pages of "snap shots," comics, 
and cartoons. Give the advertiser the 
benefit of the special interest in these par- 



THE ART OF ISSUING A COLLEGE ANNUAL 



ticular features. Cut some pages into 
quarters, others into eight equal parts, 
four to the column, for the cards of small 
advertisers, professional men — and public 
utilities. Frequently a page or more of 
business classifications may be secured, 
carrying perhaps not more than the name, 
address and telephone number. This space 
should be sold at a higher rate than full, 
half, or quarter page display. 

Many professional folk as well as some 
commercial houses believe the dignity of 
their vocations demands merely name, ad- 
dress, and telephone number, plus white 
space. And right here too much emphasis 
cannot be put upon the value of white 
space. It's proper use adds strength and 
pulling power to the "copy" and a touch 
of character to the page — but for the com- 
mercial advertiser, values and results are 
the only genuine appeal for the solicitor 
to use. 

Master and present the values the C. A. 
has always possessed — and you have the 
fight more than half won for , a bigger ad- 
vertising revenue than any previous year. 

Be sane in solicitation. The shoe repair 
shop on the side street cannot expect to 
find profit in a double page spread. The 
cobbler 's business among the student body 
is not large and his profits comparatively 
small. But the nationally known and 
widely advertised brand of men's clothing 
sold in a leading store in "Ourtown" as 



well as in leading stores in other impor- 
tant cities where live the alumni and par- 
ents, is a prospect for pages., 

The big trade possibilities of such an 
account suggest an argument which the 
local dealer can present to the manufac- 
turer for special publicity advertising to 
run in connection with the local mer- 
chant's advertisement. 

Solicitation of the manufacturer will 
have to be done by mail, but if this is 
backed and seconded by a strong letter 
from the local dealer it will have great 
effect. 

This as an illustration may be applied 
to any other nationally known line of 
merchandise. Secure the co-operation of 
the retail dealers in Ourtown and suggest 
the letter that they should write to the 
manufacturer. 

Unless there is a strong local connec- 
tion, National advertising will not be 
found available for the publications of 
any but the very large universities and 
colleges located in or near the larger 
cities, where very complete distribution 
is already secured. 

On the other hand a much greater 
volume of local advertising may be se- 
cured by careful and thoro solicitation of 
the fine-tooth-comb variety — and the ad- 
vertising pages of even the smallest C. A. 
may be made to contribute a greater 
revenue than the first estimate stipulates. 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



030 219 011 2 



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